VAMFF‘s L’Oreal Paris Runway 3 was intent on showing that other side to Melbourne fashion that often gets overlooked in the dark-and-edgy pigeonholing. It’s the side of Melbourne fashion that loves to play. And last night the likes of Gorman and Leonard St proved that it has a strong contingent.

Leonard St’s prints brought us flocks of winged creatures, thickly silhouetted against a fabric sky as if about to play out the final scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Next were apple shapes, white on green; then goldfish – or were they sharks? – flipping their tails against a sea of blue silk.

All up colour and print were key to Leonard St’s collection, and while such a high dose of whimsy won’t appeal to everyone, these are pieces that are both youthful yet capable of being worn with sophistication. And while Leonard St’s print pieces had the most impact when worn head-to-toe, there’s nothing to say that they can’t play happily together with Melbourne’s darker side.

You can see all of the Leonard Stautumn / winter 2012 runway collection by clicking on a thumbnail on the left. From there you can browse through each of the pictures from the fashion show.